Halloween Spirits
"Halloween Spirits" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of ''The Replacements''. Synopsis Todd and Riley replace their neighbors, who they feel lack Halloween spirit, with a vampire and a witch. Soon, Todd and Riley discover that Fleemco never replaced their neighbors, and the new neighbors plan to zombify trick-or-treaters. Plot Act I Todd and Dick Daring are decorating the lawn for Halloween. Buzz and his father make fun of the Darings’ Halloween decorations. Their house across the street is going all out for Halloween. For the past five years, the Winters family won a Golden Ghost Trophy, the award that goes to the side of the street with the best decorations. Todd and his father laugh it off—then it’s game on. Meanwhile, Riley has a craving for candy. Riley waits in her room to see her friends’ costumes; they all agreed to dress as someone who inspires them. Tasumi comes in wearing a blue variation of her normal armor. She’s dressed as her big brother Roku. Abbey is dressed as the bank teller that cashes her allowance check. Riley still hasn’t decided what to wear. Agent K, being a master of disguise, gives Riley Halloween costume ideas. Riley decides to go as Mary Anderson, inventor of the windshield wiper. Riley and her friends go down to the garage to find a spare windshield. Dick doesn’t have any windshields that aren’t cracked. Todd busts in looking for decorating supplies but he can’t find anything useful. The kids walk around the block, passing the Kelpmans’ house. Abbey says the Kelpmans never leave their house or decorate for any holiday; therefore, the odds are against the Darings’ side of the street winning the Golden Ghost Trophy. Todd reaches into his pocket for his phone, causing Riley to give him the stink eye. Then Riley discovers that the Kelpmans give pennies to trick-or-treaters. Riley and Todd go straight home to replace the Kelpmans. Todd wants someone spookier; Riley wants someone that would give tons of candy. The Fleemco crew show up to the Kelpmans’ house with a giant check. Later that day, Riley and Todd see moving trucks at the Kelpmans’ house. The movers bring in coffins, iron maidens, and the like. The Darings’ new neighbors arrive dressed as a vampire and a witch, and they rise from coffins to enter their new house. Suddenly, the vampire somehow teleports behind Todd and Riley. The vampire, named Emile Zupeck, really gets into character. That night, the Daring family light up their house with orange Christmas lights and an animated neon sign. It’s powerful enough to black out the entire neighborhood. The Zupecks’ house still has power; there’s an eerie green glow coming from the windows. The next day is Halloween. Riley and Todd pay a visit to the Zupecks. Their house is all decked out for Halloween, complete with tombstones, cobwebs, and realistic spiders. In fact, the spiders are a bit too realistic. They open the door to see Mrs. Zupeck making zombifying candy in a cauldron while chanting an incantation. Emile threatens to give every child “what’s coming to them” that night, laughs maniacally, then slams the door in the kids’ faces. The siblings hear Emile and his wife argue about a dungeon. Then they peer through the window and see Mrs. Zupeck appearing to walk through a wall. The kids run home terrified. Todd is convinced that their new neighbors really are a vampire and a witch. Riley tries to find a logical explanation for the Zupecks’ antics, but she can’t find any. So, Riley calls Fleemco and asks to return the Zupecks. As it turns out, the Kelpmans were never replaced in the first place; Fleemco did everything they could, but the Kelpmans refused to move out. Then, the siblings spot a pair of fresh graves outside the Zupecks’ residence. Act II Riley and Todd run to their parents in a panic and tell them everything. Agent K already ran a background check on the Zupecks and it came out clean. Dick brings Riley and Todd over to the Zupeck house to prove his children wrong. It boils down to asking Mr. Zupeck if he’s not a vampire. Emile straight-up says he is a vampire. Mr. Daring thinks Emile is only joking. Riley and Todd aren’t satisfied. They plot to infiltrate the Zupeck house with their friends. Riley finally figured out her Halloween costume—she’s going as her mother. Jacobo (dressed as a chupacabra) and Shelton (dressed as a hippie) tag along. The other kids activate booby traps seconds after walking in. Riley and Todd escape and run home, where they discover their parents have transformed into zombies. They offer Riley and Todd the special candy the Zupecks were making. The kids hide out in the garage. They try to explain their situation to C.A.R.; he doesn’t believe in zombies, but after hearing Mr. and Mrs. Daring chant “join us,” he plays an old educational movie about monsters. The solution is to tip over the witch’s cauldron. The kids return to the Zupeck house to save the neighborhood. Buzz, dressed as a kangaroo, gives the trophy to the Daring siblings; he conceded after seeing the Zupecks’ decorations. The three fall down a trap door and land in the basement. Todd and Riley use a grappling hook to swing over a pair of zombies. They jump to knock the cauldron over, but their zombified parents capture them in midair. The Zupecks prepare to force-feed the Darings their special Halloween candy. Riley uses reverse psychology to get Buzz to tip over the cauldron. Knocking it over doesn’t work, so Todd and Riley resign themselves to their fate. Then Emile reveals it was all a prank. Everyone was wearing costumes. The Zupecks were Hollywood special effects experts. Conrad Fleem collaborated with the Zupecks to give Todd and Riley a spooky Halloween. The Kelpmans were also in on the prank. Mr. Kelpman is really a video game tester, and Mrs. Kelpman is an ice cream taster; they were too busy to decorate their house. However, C.A.R. wasn’t in on the prank, and he now believes in zombies. Riley says they're not really zombies, but then everyone starts chanting "join us." C.A.R. barricades himself inside the garage while brandishing his weapons. Notes * This is the first double-length episode. * When Riley sees Jacobo and Shelton, Riley says they don't need a "meddling kid and his dumb dog", referencing Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. Category:Episodes Category:Season One